Irresponsible Cyclists, Pedestrians Irk Residents Of Mukim Lumut
By Liza Mohd

Bandar Seri Begawan - Several residents and road users of Mukim Lumut expressed their concern over cyclists who use the old Lumut highway at night without any proper lights and cycle against the flow of traffic.

A 40-year-old resident in Kampong Sungai Taring said he had almost run over a cyclist at a stretch of the old Lumut highway about two weeks ago at about 8pm.

The resident said he had failed to notice the cyclist on the side of the road. To make matters worse, there were no streetlights at that particular stretch of the road.

He added that the cyclist, who was a foreigner, should have been using a bicycle dynamo or some sort of light to notify drivers about his presence on the road.

The resident said he had only noticed the cyclist at the last minute and struggled to avoid from colliding with him. He lost control of his vehicle, skidding to the side of the road.

"The cyclist was not only posing a danger to himself, but to other road users as well," he said.

Another resident in Kampong Sungai Bakong also experienced a similar incident. He said cyclists around the Lumut area were mostly foreign workers residing in rented houses and quarters nearby.

The 32-year-old male resident said that while he was aware most of the foreign workers used bicycles which had been bought second hand to save cost, the bicycles sometimes came with damaged dynamo lights or worn out tyres.

"It is their responsibility to get the bicycles repaired to ensure not only their safety but the safety of others on the road," he added.

Aside the cyclists, road users were also irked by the reckless behaviour of some pedestrians along the old Lumut highway.

They said that pedestrians walking along the road tended to encroach onto the vehicle lanes.

This could lead to unwarranted accidents particularly when the area is dark.

During the launch of the road safety campaign in June, statistics from the National Road Safety Council Brunei Darussalam revealed that from the total of 2,625 road accidents which happened in the country last year, 15 accidents occurred between vehicles and cyclists and 12 collisions occurred between vehicles and pedestrians.

The death toll increased by 28.6 per cent, and encapsulated all forms of accidents including collisions between motorists and cyclists and pedestrians.

This year's campaign placed emphasis on the need for cyclists and pedestrians to exercise more care and to pay more attention to their environment. The campaign stressed that pedestrians and cyclists were not exempted from existing road rules.

The campaign is hoped to create awareness among road users that road hazards could be minimised or avoided if they practice road safety and to enhance public knowledge on road safety issues such as the correct use of roundabouts. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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